This was the first time playing 15mm for Colin and Craig, and it went pretty well. Colin took charge of the Grey Pashmina and his forces, while Craig and I took a squad of Panzergrenadiers each, as well as their Fuchs armoured vehicles.

Looking down the German lines of advance, the table looked like this:

The Taliban were in defensive positions, waiting for the German arrival.

My Germans took the left hand flank, while Craig's squad advanced up the right hand flank.

My Fuchs rolled on, and quickly the infantry dismounted into cover:

Once my Germans dismounted, they immediately came under small arms fire from the rooftops

Luckily, the grenadier returned fire with his AG36, dropping a 40mm directly on the firing point!

Scratch one Taliban, first blood to the Germans!

Meanwhile, Craig was taking his Fuchs on a merry ride through the village

He dismounted his grenadiers, and began to search the mosque for the Grey Pashmina.

This was about the point where our advance all went wrong.

The Taliban began to swarm out of their hidey holes

And as Craig's Fuchs rounded the corner, it immediately got an RPG round straight through the front, completely destroying the vehicle!

The destruction of the Fuchs immediately pinned Craig's advance (it didn't help him that his morale rolls completely deserted him)

Seizing the advantage, the Taliban surged forward, trying to push the Germans back and catch them in a crossfire along both flanks

My squad was bogged down too, pinned in place by PKM fire. The Fuchs drove up to act as a blocker between the PKM and the Germans. Unfortunately, the plan went awry when the PKM put holes in the front of my Fuchs, destroying it!

The Taliban then started to swarm out of other bolt holes, effectively pinning both German squads in place. My forces took to the poppy fields for cover, engaging the Taliban.

Craig's MG gunner sought the high ground, trying to hunt the Taliban on the rooftops. Craig's dice had deserted him by this point, requiring THREE turns to hit the Taliban on a 90%. At that point, you know you are not having a good day with dice...

My attempt at getting to the high ground resulted in my Obergefreiter killing one Taliban, and getting shot and killed in return.

And at the end of the second combat turn, it was a clear Taliban victory, and time to call it a day.

The net result? The Germans lost two Fuchs and three soldiers killed. The Taliban lost 10 of their fighters, but crucially the Grey Pashmina escaped. Colin played the game well, as we have come to expect from him!

Sources indicate this is the Grey Pashmina, but the Germans never got close enough to confirm!

And as for the Germans, we really paid the price for not bringing in the Show of Force. Remember kids, if you have an asset to use in the game, never save it for a rainy day. We needed to use the show of force early, so that the Taliban heads were down, and were unable to snap fire on our advance. That way we would have gotten further up the table, before getting caught in the fire from the Taliban. It might have even kept our two Fuchs alive!

So all up, an interesting and challenging game. Now I know we are months behind with playing our free scenarios, so we are already planning the next game.

Saturday, 5 September 2015

The winners of the Cetacean Commando Competition are below:

Dolphin Rules

U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program (NMMP)

Mine Hunting

MK 4 team uses dolphins to detect and mark the location of tethered sea mines floating off the bottom.

MK 7 team dolphins are trained to detect and mark the location of mines on the sea floor or buried in sediment.

The MK 8 team is trained to swiftly identify safe corridors for the initial landing of troops ashore.

Force Protection

MK 6 team uses dolphins and sea lions as sentries to protect harbor installations and ships against unauthorized human swimmers.

Object Recovery

MK 5 team is dedicated to the recovery of test equipment that is fired from ships or dropped from planes into the ocean.

Cetacean Team (150 points)

Morale 55%
A dolphin receives 3 AP. Its first AP must always be spent to move a minimum of 2" (and up to 6").

The dolphin's search is aided by a form of sonar known as echolocation: they locate objects by producing sounds and listening for the echos. A broadband burst pulse of clicking sounds is emitted in a focused beam in front of the dolphin. Two (2) AP are spent to emit and receive sonar. The sonar reveals any object (mine, human, ordinance, etc.) in a 6"x6" sector, directly in front of the dolphin (center the 6" width on the center on the dolphin). If the object is still within the 6"x6" grid at the start of the dolphin's next activation, it will move directly to the object. However, do not physically move the dolphin on the board, unless directed otherwise. Refer to cetacean team mark for further instruction.

MK 4, MK 7, and MK 8 dolphins will then spend 2 AP attempting to mark the mine with a buoy. The dolphin will need to make a Morale roll to successfully mark the buoy. If successful, mark the location of the mine on the board. If a fumble (00) is rolled, the buoy is lost and the dolphin will return to base (leave the board).

MK 6 dolphins will spend 2 AP to bump the swimmer's air tank which is then marked with a buoy. The dolphin will need to make a Morale roll to successfully mark the buoy.
If successful, the location of the swimmer will be revealed and all friendlies will receive a +30% when attempting to Spot the swimmer. In this case, place the dolphin in contact with the swimmer. The swimmer would immediately need to check for Consciousness (60%) and take a compulsory Morale test at -40% in their first available combat phase.
If the dolphin failed, place it 2" beyond the swimmer. The swimmer will still need to take a compulsory Morale test for the close encounter, but at -20%. If a fumble (00) is rolled by the dolphin, the buoy is lost and the dolphin goes AWOL (leaves the board).

MK 5 dolphins will spend 2 AP to attach recovery hardware to the object. The dolphin will need to make a Morale roll to successfully do so. If successful, the object will be able to be recovered per the scenario rules. If a fumble (00) is rolled, the recovery hardware is lost and the dolphin will return to base (leave the board).

Remember that the dolphin's first AP must always be spent moving a minimum of 2". It is possible that in its next activation, it moves and then uses sonar, but does not detect the object, as it has overshot its mark.

Spotting a dolphin

Dolphins are native to the water. Military trained dolphins would still appear to be a creature of the wild. Positive Identification is required, meaning 2AP must be expended to positively identify the dolphin as military (counting all spotting modifiers as usual).

Spotting Modifiers

If spotter is out of the water:

Target is swimming

Target is Hidden

If spotter is in the water:

Target is swimming

Target is in Soft cover (within 6")

Target is in Medium cover (7-12")

Target is in Hard cover (13-18")

Target is Hidden (>18")

Use same modifiers for Shooting, except replace Hidden modifiers with Prepared Defenses modifiers.

When a dolphin is fired at, add three additional morale markers (4 total).

Wednesday, 2 September 2015

So as you might have gathered we missed August but not by much.... :-) This scenario features a squad of US Marines attempting to find and recover a downed UAV somewhere deep in the Helmand Province. Semper Fi people.